Blogcritics Editors' Picks: July 19 through July 25

If your favorite summer activities include listening to music and reading on the beach, then there's no better place to read about these things than right here on Blogcritics. This week we have some outstanding reports from the live music front (in addition to our always eclectic mix of CD reviews), and reviews of some good books you might want to tuck into your beach tote. If your idea of summer fun extends to the political realm, then we've got that covered, too. As always, start right here for what caught our collective editorial eye this week. 

Let me remind those of you who are chosen that you are invited to submit your own pick for next week (due to space considerations, please limit it to one). Please feel free to email me your picks (including the URL) by next Tuesday.

MUSIC

In CD Review: Bruce Hornsby - Intersections 1985-2005, Mat Brewster remembers a long-ago concert as well as dissects the music. With clever style, he delivers the information necessary to make the reader want to check out this box set.

I tried to play along with Eric Berlin, I really did. But I just couldn't narrow my personal list like he did in Five Favorite Bands of All Time: Take the Challenge. Check out his favorites and leave your top five.

A. L. Harper takes the reader along and explains all the ins and outs of how to enjoy a music festival in Festival Review: The Wickerman Music Festival, Scotland. Oh, and she fills us in on all the great music as well.

DJRadiohead takes us along on his long and winding journey, which instead of being "the review that wasn't" became Concert Review: Guster & Ray LaMontagne with Fruitbats, Birmingham, AL (Alabama Theater) July 23, 2006. The detailed background and show review is well worth the read.

From Asst. Music Editor A.L. Harper:

Mat Brewster's mum goes off her head when she hears Lou Reed singing about giving head in Bootleg Country: Lou Reed - 12/16/72.

Joan Jett is all grown up now. And Connie Phillips walks us through that maturity when she reviews the CD, Sinner.

From Editor DJRadiohead:

Mark Saleski has written another excellent article about an obscure jazz artist I have never heard, but his review of Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet - Way Out East is a more than worthy read.

From Editor Gordon Hauptfleisch:

Not only is Mat Brewster's Bootleg Country: Lou Reed a well-written and evocative overview of the influential Reed's focus on "the darker personalities...on the outskirts of normal society," but his mom sounds like my mom, and, well, I'm such a sentimentalist... Not so much that I would have a Hootie and the Blowfish tape within reach, though.

BOOKS

Often the hardest part of writing a review is thinking of an intro – once you're up and typing, impressions of a book can just tumble out, and mysteriously take on some logical flow. Where beginners often get stuck is finding a way to start the review. (Hint: "I think" is almost never the way to do it, and just reciting the title and author is less than exciting.)

Two reviews this week did a lovely job of dragging you into their accounts. Richard Marcus, reviewing Lessek's Key, by Robert Scott and Jay Gordon, began "what I'm about to do is highly unfair, taunting, and in some circles might even be considered legitimate cause for disembowelment". How could you not read on?

Article Author: Lisa McKay

Lisa McKay is Blogcritics' Executive Editor. At BC she can usually be found hanging out in the film section. She recently started food blogging at Will Kill for Food.

In her spare time, she watches movies, listens to music, reads, and caters to the whims of two spoiled cats. …

Visit Lisa McKay's author page — Lisa McKay's Blog